Conductors

David Randolph Conductor

David Randolph has been the conductor of The St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra since 1965. During the 2005/2006 season, Maestro Randolph led the St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra in performances of Beethoven's"Symphony No. 9" and Ralph Vaugham Williams' " Dona Nobis Pacem " in Carnegie Hall in April 2006. Earlier in the season, he performed Mozart's "Vesperae solennes de confessore" and Charles Gounod's " St. Cecilia Mass. " In December 2005 he conducted Handel's " Messiah " in Carnegie Hall. Maestro Randolph holds the world's record for conducting 171 complete performances of Handel's Messiah.

Born in New York City, he received his Master of Arts degree at Teachers College, Columbia University. From 1943 to 1947 he was a Music Specialist for the United States Office of War Information. In 1947 he became the Music Annotator for the Columbia Broadcasting System, writing the broadcast scripts for concerts by The New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and all other classical music presentations on the network. In 1946, he began a series of weekly broadcasts called "Music for the Connoisseur," later known as "The David Randolph Concerts," on New York City's radio station WNYC. For his fourth broadcast, on July 23, 1946, he surveyed the subject of "Humor in Music," thus "inventing" the type of radio broadcast devoted to a single musical subject with commentary. The broadcasts were later heard nationwide on the 72-station network of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters. These broadcasts, which won four Ohio State University Awards as "The best programs of music and commentary in the nation," continued for 33 years and resulted in invitations from 23 publishers to write a book. His book, This Is Music, was described by The New York Times as "One of the Best of the Year." It was recently re-published by Creative Arts Book Company, and can be ordered at any bookstore, or online from Amazon.com.

For many years, Mr. Randolph conducted his own five-voiced madrigal group, The Randolph Singers, which toured, gave concerts in Town Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Carnegie Recital Hall, made many recordings, and was the subject of a full two-hour "Today" show on NBC-TV. In 1948, Mr. Randolph married the contralto of the group, Mildred Greenberg, who can be seen in the center box at all of his Carnegie Hall concerts.

He was the host of the program "Lincoln Center Spotlight," heard weekly on radio station WQXR; host for "Young Audiences," a series of 39 programs on the CBS Television network; and appeared as a guest on the Metropolitan Opera Intermission broadcasts. He has been a regular guest critic on WQXR's "First Hearing."

David Randolph was the original conductor of the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra from its founding in 1955 until his resignation on January 1, 1993. With them, Mr. Randolph developed a specialty as a conductor of Handel's "Messiah." His much-acclaimed interpretation of that beloved masterpiece became a seasonal tradition in New York City and the metropolitan area, eventually resulting in as many as seven sold-out performances a season and a world record for performances of the piece.